PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

A common means of distinguishing one material from another is through their physical properties.
These include such features as density (weight); melting point; optical characteristics (transparency,
opaqueness, or color); the thermal properties of specific heat, coefficient of thermal expansion, and
thermal conductivity; electrical conductivity; and magnetic properties. In some cases, physical properties
are of prime importance when selecting a material.

More often, however, material selection is dominated by the properties that describe how a material
responds to applied loads or forces. These mechanical properties are usually determined by subjecting
prepared specimens to standard test conditions. When using the obtained results, however, it is
important to remember that they apply only to the specific conditions that were employed in the test.
The actual service conditions of engineered products rarely duplicate the conditions of laboratory
testing, so considerable caution should be exercised.

STRESS AND STRAIN

When a force or load is applied to a material, it deforms or distorts (becomes strained), and internal
reactive forces (stresses) are transmitted through the solid. For example, if a weight, W, is suspended
from a bar of uniform cross section and length L, as in Figure, the bar will elongate by an amount ΔL. For
a given weight, the magnitude of the elongation, DL, depends on the original length of the bar. The
amount of elongation per unit length, expressed as e ¼ DL/L, is called the unit strain. Although the ratio
is that of a length to another length and is therefore dimensionless, strain is usually expressed in terms
of millimeters per meter, inches per inch, or simply as a percentage.